Okay, my mom wants me to knit her an afghan for Christmas. She wants the yarn to be machine washable, but still very soft. I'm kind of a newish knitter, so I don't know my yarns real well yet. I've mostly been knitting with fabulous wool that can never see the inside of a washing machine. She has found the pattern she wants me to knit: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/libr...ayfield-afghan

The pattern calls for Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, which is machine washable, so that's good. My problem is that none of the yarn stores anywhere near me carry this, and I usually like to feel the yarn before I buy it. Have any of you used it, and it is it really soft? Is there another similar yarn that would be better (softer but still easy to care for)?

You won't find this at a local yarn store, but at craft stores such as Joanns, Michaels, AC Moore, or Hobby Lobby. Plymouth Encore would be a good one, which you can find at the LYS. Go to the ravelry pattern page again and click on the Yarn Ideas tab to see what other yarns people used.

Thanks for the ideas. I didn't know that ravelry had the Yarn Ideas tab, so that will be very helpful! Plymouth Encore Mega is closest to what I need, but I can't find it online anywhere. I'm going to a different yarn store tomorrow to see if they have something that might work as a substitute.

I just bought a skein of it at Walmart, but they were closing it out. I've noticed they're closing out quite a few. You can order it directly from Lionbrandyarn.com. It was a pleasure to work with. Loved it!

fatoldladyinpjs, I went to Wal-mart yesterday, and they had some Lion Brand yarns, but they didn't have the kind I was looking for. I was hoping they'd have it so I could feel it, but I think I'm just going to order the Plymouth super bulky yarn. Thanks for telling me about the yarn, though!

I've never used the Thick and Quick but have used Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted weight a lot and I like it. I have used it a lot for babies and children and find it soft and washes up well. Sometimes the thicker versions of things are not just like the thinner and I don't know on this one. I've gotten mine from Joann on line and bought a bunch of it from Wal-Mart ages ago when they decided not to carry it anymore.